Known window units, such as a skylight window, utilize a power unit which can cause extension and retraction of a chain connected to a movable sash of the window for causing opening and closing movement of the window sash. Window operators for skylight windows are know in the art. An example of such a window operator is shown in Tacheny et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,993, owned by the assignee of this application, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. This window operator has a chain storable within a housing with the chain being extended from and retracted into the housing by means of a rotatable drive sprocket having a toothed relation with the chain.
The Tacheny et al. patent discloses a two-part housing with a housing base providing for chain storage, chain guiding, and rotatable mounting of the drive sprocket. An upper part of the housing mounts means for driving the rotatable drive sprocket which can either be a manually operable means or a motor drive, as shown in FIG. 5 of the patent. An alternative motor drive is illustrated in Berner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,678, owned by the assignee of this application, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Prior motorized window operators used manually operated switches to command energization of power to the motor to open or close the window. However, such operators require that the user continue to actuate the switch until the window opens or closes to the desired position. Alternatively, the control moves the window to a full open or full closed position and limit switches provided deenergization of power to the motor at the end of the stroke. This requires that additional hardware be added to either the operator itself or to the window.
In certain applications, a plurality of skylight windows may be installed in proximity to one another. For example, a single room in a home could include two or three skylight windows along the ceiling thereof. With prior skylight operators, a separate control device is required for each. As such, a separate, for example, wall mounted control must be provided for each so that the windows must be opened or closed separately and independently.
The present invention is intended to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.